Fan



June 3, 1969 F, HOUDER ET AL 3,447,739

FAN

Filed March 6, 1967 Huw INVENTOR. JACK F. HoDDER. RAPHAEL n. scp-"Lz,

AN Jack F. Hodder, 803 3rd St. NW.,

United States Patent() and Raphael D. Schilz, 429 1st Drive NE., both ofNew Philadelphia, Ohio 44663 Filed Mar. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 620,923 Int.Cl. F04d 25/06, 25/08, 29/26 U.S. Cl. 230--117 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A power driven fan including an inner tubular member adaptedto be mounted on a non-rotating shaft, an outer tubular member spacedfrom the inne-r member land rotatable therea'bout, and .a plurality ofradially, outwardly extending, circumferentially spaced blades fixed toa peripheral portion of the outer member.

The fan of the present invention comprises -a tubular inner member, atubular outer member spaced from the inner member and supported forrotation t'hereabout, and a plurality of outwardly extending,circ-umferentially spaced blades fixed about an outer peripheral portionof the outer member.

Various advantages will become apparent upon considering the followingdescription and drawings in which:

IFIG. 1 is an end view in elevation of a fan embodying the presentinvention with 'a portion of the fan cut out to show details ofconstruction of vthe blades of such fan;

IFIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the fan of FIG. 1 partially insect-ion to show further details of construction. y

Referring now to the drawings the fan embodying the present invent-ionis generally referred to by numeral and includes a tubular rigid innermember 12 having a generally cylindrical opening 13, wh-ich member 12iucludes a forward portion 14, an intermediate portion 15, and arearward portion 16. Forward portion 14 is generally cylindrical inshape and extends longitudinally rea-rwardly from the front end 22 ofinner member 12 to .a radially outwardly extending annu-lar l-ip 18having a transversely extending Iforward face 18a and a generallyparallel transversely extending rearward face 18h. The intermediateport-ion 15 of inne-r member 12 is generally cylindrically shaped andextends longitudinally rearwardly from t-he rearward face 18b of Elip 18and is slightly smaller in diameter than forward portion 14. Therea-rward portion 16 of -inner member 12 extends from the rear end ofinner member 12 to the intermediate portion 15, which rearward portionis cylindrically shaped and of :a smaller diameter than intermediateportion 15 and 'accordingly defines an lannular .shoulder 19 withintermediate portion 15. The forward portion 14 of inner member 12 hasla circumferential slot 21 extending radially inwardly from the outersurface thereof radjacent the `front end 22 of inner member 12.

The f-an 10 also include-s a tubular rigid outer member 24 which outermember has a longitudinal centerline coaxial with the centerline ofinner mem'ber 12 when such members are :assembled with respect to oneanother. Outer member 24 has a rearward portion 26 and a forward portion28. Rearward portion 26 has a generally cylindrical outer surface 30extending longitudinally forward-ly from the rear end 31 of the outermember l24 to the forward portion 28. The rear end 31 of outer member 24lies in a pl-ane normal 'to the longitudinal center line of outer member24 which plane is disposed rearwardly of the rear end of inner member12. The rearward portion 26 of member 24 also includes 'a generallycylindrical inner surface 32 extending longitudinally forwardly to anannular shoulder 33. The forward portion 28 of outer member 24 has anouter surface 3S which tapers smoothly from the rearward portion 26 tothe forward end y36 `of outer member 24. The forward portion 28 of outermem-ber 24 also includes an inner surface 37 extending from shoulder I33which inner surface 37 has a short cylindrically shaped section 38extending longitudinally forwardly to .a forward tapering section 39which tapering sect-ion terminates at -an inward-ly directedcircumferential lip 40 lhaving a transversely extendingn rear face 40a`and :a generally parallel transversely extending forward face 4Gb. Agenerally cylindrically shaped section 41 extends Ilongitudinallyforwardly `from the forward face 40b of lip 40 to the front end 43 ofouter member 24. Cylindrical section 41 has .a circumtferential slot 44in .the wall thereof which slot 44 is disposed nearer t-he front end l43of outer member 24 then to lip 40.

A plurality of :airfoil shaped blades 50 are suitably fixed to theforward porti-on 28 Iof outer member 24, which 'blades 50 extendvradially outwardly and rare uniformly spaced about the periphery offorward portion 28. The leading edge 51 of each blade 50y is :disposedadjacent the forward end 36 of outer member 24 with the hubs 52 0f eachblade 50 being tapered the same amount as the taper of the Iforwardportion 28. A rigid Itubular shroud 55 having ya gener-allycylindrically shaped inner surface 56 is suitably iixed lto Ithe tips 53of the blades 50. Shroud 55 has 'a generally cylindrically shapedrearward outer portion 57 and 1a forward outer portion 58 formed ofcircumferentially extending longitudinally spaced sharp crested ridges59, which ridges Iform the familiar labyrinth type of rotary seal.

When 'the inner member 12 land outer member 24 are assembled withrespect `to each other the respective lips 18 rand 40 thereof liecoplranarly to and spaced from one another, and fa recess 46 is definedby inner surface 32, tapering section 39 o-f inner surface 37, rearwardface 40a! of lip 40, rearward face 18b of lip 18, outer surface ofintermediate portion 15 and outer surface of rearward portion 16. Theinner member 12 and outer member 24 in the :assembled condition, also,`define an annular chamber 48 -between forward face 40h of lip 40,cylindrical section 41, shoulder 43, forward portion 14 of inner member12, and forward face 18a of lip 18.

An inside-out electrical motor 61 is received in recess 46, which motor61 has fan annular shaped stator 62 suitably xed :at its inner surfaceto the rearward portion 16 of inner member 12 with a part 'of theforward end of the stator 62 abutting Iwith shoulder 19. Suitably sizedelectrical conductors I63 are suitably fixed to stator 62 to suitablyenergize the stator windings of motor 61. An annular shaped rotor `ba-r64 is fixed `at its outer surface to lthe forwardmost portion of innersurface 32 of outer member 24 with a portion of the yforward end ofrotor bar 64 abutting shoulder 33.

Two identical ball bearings 66 are suitably received in chamber 48. Theinner race 67 of each of the bearings 66 is suitably fixed to thesurface of forward portion 14 of inner member 12 while the outer race 68is suitably lixed to the surface of cylindrical Section 41 of outermember 24. An annular shaped wave spring 69 is also disposed in chamber48 forwardly of the forwardmost bearing 66 with the rearward end of suchspring 69 abutting the forward face of the inner race 67 of suchforwardmost bearing 66. Wave spring 69 is suitably arranged with respectto the bearings 66 to apply a rearwardly directed force to the bearings66. The wave spring 69 is prevented from moving forwardly by anannularly shaped snap ring 70 suitably disposed in slot 21 of theforward portion 14 of inner member 12. An annularly shaped retainingring 71 is suitably disposed in slot 44 of cylindrical section 41 whichring 71 abuts the outer race 68 of the forwardmost bearing 66.

It is apparent that shroud 55 and the forwardmost portion of forwardportion 28 of outer member 24 define a fluid ow passageway therebetween.

The fan described hereinbefore and illustrated in the drawings is anaxial ow fan, but it should be noted, that blades can be arranged withrespect to the inner member 12 and outer member 24 so that the fan ofthe present invention becomes either a mixed ow fan or a centrifugalllow fan. Those skilled in the fan art can readily adapt the presentinvention to such mixed or centrifugal flow as desired. It is to benoted that a labyrinth seal be placed on the rear end portion of the fan10 either by forming circumferential ridges in the rearward portion 26of outward portion 24 or by fixing a labyrinth seal member to the outermember 24.

The fan of the present invention can be mounted on a shaft and the outermember 24 rotated by motor 61 to pump a uid. A typical application ofthis woud be to mount the fan 10 on the shaft of a vehicle wheel whereinthe fan would circulate air for cooling the brake for such wheel. Otherapplications will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in thisparticular art.

Having described the preferred embodiment of my present invention and inaccordance with the patent statutes, it is to be realized thatmodications may be made without departing from the broad scope of thepresent invention. Accordingly, it is requested that the scope of thisinvention be not restricted to the specific form shown for the usesmentioned except to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. A fan comprising: a hollow generally cylindrical non-rotatablesupport member having an inner diameter greater than the axial lengththereof; an electric motor stator mounted external to and encircling aportion of the outer surface of said support member; a hollow generallycylindrical rotatable member rotatably mounted coaxally external to saidsupport member for rotation thereabout; said rotatable member having aportion surrounding and radially outwardly spaced from said stator; anelectric motor rotor mounted within and drivingly connected to saidportion of said rotatable member in a location surrounding said stator;a plurality of circumferentially spaced air moving blades mounted on theexterior of said rotatable member and extending outwardly therefrom.

2. A fan comprising: a hollow generally cylindrical non-rotatablesupport member; an electric motor stator mounted external to andencircling a portion of the outer surface of said support member; ahollow generally cylindrical rotatable member rotatably mountedcoaxially external to said support member for rotation thereabout; saidrotatable member having a portion surrounding and radially outwardlyspaced from said stator; an electric motor rotor mounted within anddrivingly connected to said portion ot said rotatable member in alocation surrounding said stator; a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced air moving blades mounted on the exterior of said rotatablemember and extending outwardly therefrom with an air ow guiding shroudmember mounted on the outer edges of said blades to encircle and rotatewith said rotatable member.

3. A fan as specified in claim 1 or 2 wherein said electric motor statorincludes a set of stator windings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,051,852 1/1913 Treat 230-1201,055,487 3/1913 Papin 23o-120 1,614,091 1/1927 Van Tol 230-1202,596,783 5/ 1952 Moore. 3,175,755 3/ 1965 Rockaeld.

FOREIGN PATENTS 386,039 1/ 1933 Great Britain.

HENRY P. RADUAZO, Primary Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 230-120, 134

